UC sues over Occupy the Farm protest in Albany

ALBANY

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, May 10, 2012

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Image 1of/3

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 3

Leah Kenaga, wife of UC Berkeley researcher Damon Lisch, sits in silent meditation in oppisition to the occupation of the farm. Occupiers with Occupy the Farm braced for a possible police raid at the Gill Tract in Albany, CA Wednesday May 9th, 2012. less

Leah Kenaga, wife of UC Berkeley researcher Damon Lisch, sits in silent meditation in oppisition to the occupation of the farm. Occupiers with Occupy the Farm braced for a possible police raid at the Gill ... more

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Image 2 of 3

Police officers blocked the gate on San Pablo Ave. to vehicles but pedestrians were free to pass through. Occupiers with Occupy the Farm braced for a possible police raid at the Gill Tract in Albany, CA Wednesday May 9th, 2012. less

Police officers blocked the gate on San Pablo Ave. to vehicles but pedestrians were free to pass through. Occupiers with Occupy the Farm braced for a possible police raid at the Gill Tract in Albany, CA ... more

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Image 3 of 3

Professor Miguel Altieri of the College of Natural Researchers at UC Berkeley was planning to bring students to the farm to plant an experimental tomato plot but decided against it due to the police presence. Occupiers with Occupy the Farm braced for a possible police raid at the Gill Tract in Albany, CA Wednesday May 9th, 2012. less

Professor Miguel Altieri of the College of Natural Researchers at UC Berkeley was planning to bring students to the farm to plant an experimental tomato plot but decided against it due to the police presence. ... more

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

UC sues over Occupy the Farm protest in Albany

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

A standoff between UC Berkeley and Occupy activists who planted renegade crops on university land is headed from the farm to the courts.

The University of California Board of Regents filed a lawsuit Wednesday against 14 protesters, claiming they and others conspired to cut through chains that secured gates and trespass onto the Gill Tract, a patch of land along bustling San Pablo Avenue in Albany.

The activists, who call themselves Occupy the Farm, moved onto the tract April 22. They are pressuring the university to preserve part of the tract, which has been the subject of development debates for years, for agricultural study and urban farming.

The protesters tilled 2 acres on a site used by the College of Natural Resources for research. They planted vegetables, set up a drip system and pitched tents. Ever since, the two sides have been trading demands.

When UC turned off the water, the protesters began hauling in 30-gallon tanks. On Wednesday, the university put in concrete barricades to cut off vehicle traffic, so demonstrators began bringing in water by the jug.

Police officers were on hand and read a statement warning people not to interfere with them, but they did not prevent activists from coming and going.

With the lawsuit, UC is trying to ratchet up the pressure further. The civil action, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, seeks a restraining order and an injunction against the pitchfork protesters, with violations punishable by up to six months in jail.

The suit says that a 24-hour-a-day encampment is not consistent with agricultural experiments, and that the demonstrators are delaying an annual corn planting.

"We're happy to have a conversation about both the short- and long-term future of the Gill Tract," said Dan Mogulof, a UC Berkeley spokesman. "But that conversation must include members of the Albany community who have been involved with us in a collaborative planning process for more than eight years."

A UC master plan adopted in 2004 called for the land to be used for recreational and open space if the university halts agricultural research, Mogulof said.

One of the protesters named in the lawsuit, UC Berkeley alumna Anya Kamenskaya, gave a reporter a tour of the property Wednesday. Beyond signs reading, "Resistance is fertile" and "Free the land," activists had set up a kitchen tent, brought in five portable bathrooms and arranged a "youth educational garden."

Now Playing:

The interlopers took away chickens they had brought to the land Wednesday morning, fearing they would be seized in a police sweep.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.